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Brad Underwood reflects on ‘fantastic year’ for Illinois
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A few weeks after Illinois’ season came to an abrupt end in the Sweet 16, head coach Brad Underwood met with reporters to reflect on the year. Sure, it might’ve been a disappointing ending, but Underwood doesn’t want that one game to overshadow the entire season.
Monday, Underwood met with reporters to talk about multiple topics. He discussed the overall 2020-21 season, players leaving, the transfer portal, the Illinois coaching staff and plenty of other things while speaking with the media.
One thing was clear from Underwood — Illinois had a “fantastic year.” The head coach admitted that he hasn’t been able to get over the loss to Loyola Chicago just yet, but the Fighting Illini still ended the year with a 24-7 record and a 16-4 mark in B1G play, winning more games in the conference than anyone else.
Illinois went on to win the B1G Tournament championship and earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It ended before anyone expected, but there were still a lot of positive takeaways from the year.
Here’s what Underwood had to say about Illinois’ season:
#illini coach Brad Underwood: "Fantastic year. …Obviously, we're disappointed in the ending. We were hoping and wishing we were playing today." That's March Madness. This is the growth of a program. pic.twitter.com/eQMqsmplOs
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: I'm extremely proud of this group of guys, this season.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: Didn't have a positive COVID test since August. Took a lot of discipline and mental challenge.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: The transfer portal "has been a majority of my past 10-11 days."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: Creates a unique scenario. Prefer to recruit freshmen and develop them. I don't know if those days exist anymore.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood when specifically asked about seniors and Kofi Cockburn: Do not know yet on who will return or not. Players returned home. Will have discussions when they return to campus.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood pretty succinct on Adam Miller transferring: "To say I'm surprised by anything in this world, I'm not."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood said he hasn't "had the stomach" to watch the Loyola game again. Watched two women's NCAA Tournament game but has not watched any men's games.
Still needs to process why it happened. Said they were "emotionally flat" and he doesn't know why.
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood: "This one stings. I'm not lying. But we can't discredit all the positives of the year."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood asked if he anticipates any change to his staff: "Not to my knowledge."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
#illini Brad Underwood said Andre Curbelo certainly will be put into a leadership role next season.
"I'd be disappointed if he doesn't have an outstanding year."
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) April 5, 2021
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB